In Ecuador, peanuts are planted in slash-and-burn plots in the rain forests
of the eastern Amazonian lowlands and in small fields on the sandy coastal
plains. Farmers also grow peanuts on irrigated terraces in the dry southern
mountains. In northern Ecuador, peanuts grow at unusually high altitudes.

The country is rich in native varieties known to scientists as landraces.
Some of the useful traits that may be found in these landraces include
resistance to pests, diseases, and environmental stresses. Several landraces
were previously unknown to science.

In all, the team collected 200 accessions of native peanut landraces. The
accessions represent all six botanical varieties of peanuts: hirsuta,
hypogaea, fastigiata, peruviana, aequatoriana and vulgaris.

After germplasm is collected, seeds must be multiplied and characterized for
plant, pod and seed properties before they can be distributed to plant
breeders. This work was performed in Ecuador under contract to USDA. The
increased seeds were divided between the U.S. and Ecuadorian national
collections. Ecuador also gained from other collaborative activities that
resulted fromand reached beyondthe peanut explorations.